After a Holiday
Thursday, July 5, 2007
Sometimes it was nice to have a holiday on Wednesday to cut a break into the middle of the week.
According to the itinerary, Carrie-Bri and Eve were still in Cairns. Perhaps they were either scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef or bungee-jumping in the rain forest.
While Collette instructed Rose during the day, the Puck sat bundled in his blanket with his wow in his mouth, looking around from whatever perch on which he happened to be seated: his car seat, the couch, his Grandma, his Uncle Francis, etc.
“Hey, Puck-Puck,” Rose would often screech to him.
Linnea wanted to light a few fireworks in the back yard for his benefit, but he was already napping by the time they were ready to begin the display.
On Tuesday, Francis had built a Boy Scout fire in the old sandbox (minus the box). He and Linnea had an early morning marshmallow roast. Puck was invited to join them, but he had to decline the invitation on account of his mid-morning bottle.
During the later part of the morning, Mom and Collette were able to purchase a gift for Emerald Blots, and her fiancée, Corfu Drinker. They were to be married on the 28th of July. Collette wondered why, that out of the six couples she knew getting married that summer, none of them had chosen to be married on 07.07.07.
Emerald Blots was the sort of “perfect southern girl” about which Collette had been thinking when she visited Arkansas. She probably wouldn’t have left the house to pick up the mail from the mailbox without having herself completely presentable. It wasn’t an issue of vanity. It was more than likely an issue of tradition, as OLeif had suggested.
What was more, Emerald had a pleasant voice, closely resembling Norah Jones. Her older sister, Monday, had requested that she sing “The Nearness of You” and accompany herself on the piano at her wedding.
That had been in November where the Cajun air had been humid even then, five days before Thanksgiving. A wedding in Louisiana in July… at least the wedding would not begin until seven o’clock in the evening.
Thursday, toward five, Collette and Puck drove home, but first dropped by to see OLeif at work. The colossal old mall had been remodeled even further with two wings still left open for the club and the church, which would be situated side-by-side. As they walked Puck through the building, all of the female employees took their turns fawning over the baby. Even Lucia had her chance as they breezed through CSR.
“Awwwwww…” Lucia poked his chubby belly. “He’s gotten so big and cute!”
But they quickly left. Lucia’s phone was on hold until her supervisor could come up and speak to her customer.
“He’s really angry,” Lucia warned her.
Such was the life of a CSR.